ATOMIC NORDIC: SAVING THE BEST TILL LAST

The final race of the biathlon season was a hit for atomic athletes. Christoph Sumann won the pursuit in Chanty-Mansijsk, Russia – 1185 days after his last world cup win; Dominik Landertinger took second place in the mass start and thus thrust his way onto the podium for the overall world cup standings in third place. In the long distance, Atomic star Anders Aukland sealed overall victory in the ski classics series even before the final race of the season with his fourth success in the Birkebeinerrennet.

Sumann's sixth World Cup victory in numbers: 12.5 km and four perfect scores in the shooting meant he crossed the line using a complete Atomic package (WC Skate Featherlight skis, WC Skate boots and SNS Pilot Race Skate bindings) with a 35.7-second advantage. "I've already thought once or twice about quitting this season, because after third place in Östersund I didn't get anything else. That was a tough time for me," he said. But the 37-year-old Styrian, who moved to Seefeld in Tirol with his family last summer because of better training conditions, is now looking forward to his farewell tour in the Olympic season 2013/14: "Now I know why I'll be training at full throttle for another year," he says.

Atomic colleague Dominik Landertinger was also going at full throttle. In the deep snow of the last race of the season, the former World Champion of 2009 struck a path to second place on his Atomic WC Skate Featherlight skis. The 25-year-old thus thrust his way into third place in the overall World Cup standings - his best finish since sixth place in the World Championships 2009.

AUKLAND WINS THE SKI CLASSICS
Before the final race of the season on 23 March in Årefjällsloppet (Sweden) the dominant Anders Aukland has already sealed his defense of the overall Ski Classics ranking title with 760 points. Only his brother and Atomic teammate Jørgen Aukland (660 points) can theoretically draw level with a victory in the final event. Using Atomic WC Classic Featherlight skis, WC Classic boots and SNS Pilot Race Classic bindings, Anders Aukland conquered the 54 kilometers of hills between Tingstadjordet and Lillehammer in 2:42:38 hours, winning for the second consecutive year and for the fourth time in total.